GLOBAL AND LOCAL FEMINISM | CAN MEN AND WOMEN BE FRIENDS? | CHAVISMO WITHOUT CHAVEZ?
TheBeaver
12.03.2013
Newspaper of the LSE Students’ Union FREE
NEW SABBS ELECTED Newly elected Sabbatical Officers (left to right): General Secretary, Jay Stoll; Community and Welfare Officer, Anneessa Mahmood; Activities and Development Officer, Hannah Richmond; Education Officer, Rosie Coleman. Beaver Election Team
There was record turnout in this year’s Lent Term Elections as 2999 votes were cast. On Thursday, as the results came in, the Quad was packed with raucous supporters and campaigners as the results were announced. So raucous in fact, that a student commented that she had never felt such a strong feeling of community at LSE in her two years at the university. Both the defeated and the victorious breathed a sigh of relief as the night came to a close and the anticipation was ended. From these 2999 votes, Jay Stoll, Rosie Coleman, Anneessa Mahmood and Hannah Richmond were voted in as the Full-Time Sabbatical Officers. Despite, the speculative belief that Students’ Union
elections tend to be “popularity contest” each victorious candidate had individual reasons for their success and were eager to share their idiosyncratic recipes and their intentions for their year in office. From the looks of campus in the last week, one would think that LSE had abandoned its red logo and replaced it with yellow. Yellow was Jay Stoll’s choice of campaign colour, and it was on the clothing of his supporters and posters plastered around the School. And on election night this proliferation manifested itself. It began with the preelection speculation, the whisperings of victory, and it ended with Stoll’s final victory as General Secretary. However, many did attribute his success to his manifesto
promises, specifically his focus on student finance and international student issues. In the end, Stoll was voted in, earning 1,100 votes and commented that “it was unequivocally the best year of my life.” Stoll has to tackle some big issues in his year in office, which is reflected in the plurality of his commitments to his manifesto. The position of Education Officer was fiercely fought over by six candidates, but after four round of voting and 2,206 votes cast, Rosie Coleman came out on top. In the run-up, Coleman expressed feeling a bit numb but after her victory, the colour flushed back into her cheeks as she began to celebrate and vocalise her excited anticipation of future campaigns and implementation of her manifesto prom-
ises. Coming in as a close second, Jason Wong, even in defeat, managed to pat himself on the back for the accumulation of 670 votes despite his lack of a number society endorsements, and his refusal to “indulge in Houghton Street gimmicks.” Winning by 25 votes, Aneesa Mahmoud won the position of Community and Welfare Officer. She credited her success to her insider understanding of how the Students’ Union works and her catchy social media campaign as well as the Islamic Society’s support. Importantly, she pointed out that the first thing that she was going to tackle was “welfare issues” and the implementation of “a community program” as she stressed “LSE has to feel like a community.” Hannah Richmond emerged
victorious in the race for Activities and Development Officer by 31 votes. Richmond honed in on LSE’s spending, vowing to redistribute funding to societies, especially for the Music Room and the Drama Society. She commented that “LSE has a lot of money to spend, and they need to spend it on the students.” Richmond said, however, that what gave her the biggest leg up was the AU vote, which has come out of her intense involvement over the past three years. She commented that she has seen the AU grow stronger and emerge as a valid political platform. What will come of these well intentioned promises is the challenge of next year, and hopefully they live up to the tasks they have set themselves. Continued on page 4, col. 1
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